Easter 2013
Magyar Posta traditionally celebrates Easter with a stamp release
Beautiful eggs from the Decorative Egg Collection in Zengővárkony are featured on the designs of the miniature sheet of regular postage stamps and the sets. The eggs are the work of the folk artist Mrs Csilla Szendrő Bérczi, who practises the craft of egg painting. The Easter stamps issued on 5 March 2013 were designed by the graphic artist Péter Nagy and printed by the ANY Security Printing Company.
The
original motifs of the miniature sheet and the set of stamps with a face value
of HUF 85 are from a collection from the start of the last century. These
patterns with white scratching on a red painted ground came from Gyimes, Csík
and Háromszék in Transylvania. The variations
of technique and the colour combination highlight the beauty, rhythm and
vibrance of the motifs. At the same time their archaic, cultic nature is
evident. The forerunners of the floral patterns are to be found in the wealth
of Transylvanian Renaissance motifs. Some patterns can have more than one
meaning, which is clear evidence of the astonishing variety of patterns in the CarpathianBasin, the refinement of the women
and
girls who decorate eggs, and the fostering of noble, centuries-old traditions. The
main motif of the set of stamps with a face value of HUF 110 is a decorated egg
from the Gyimes region of the CarpathianBasin with a broad band
around the middle bearing the inscription “Christ – Hallelujah”.
The egg is
divided into eight parts above and below the band with a black outer and red
inner star crowning the top and bottom of the egg. The egg artist uses the
combination of red and black to highlight and reinforce the main motif while
emphasising the traditional colours of Transylvania found for instance in the
women’s red and black skirt, the church flags fluttering in the Whitsun breeze
and the mourning colours of Székelyland. Gyimes is one of the most religious
areas where to the present day eggs are decorated in every household with daughters.
The region has an archaic collection of patterns which is unrivalled in the CarpathianBasin, comprising several hundred
variations that nevertheless have a spectacular unity, in short Gyimes egg
decoration. The
Decorative Egg Collection in Zengővárkony contains eggs decorated individually
by thirty different techniques from tiny quail to huge ostrich eggs and among
them are exceptionally crafted examples of folk art. All the eggs exhibited
have their own individual harmony and enchanting, eye-catching beauty. (Source:
Dr Rózsa Nienhaus, founder and owner of the DecorativeEggMuseum)
Order code: 2013065010031
(HUF 85); 2013065010131 (HUF
110);
2013065060032 (FDC);
2013064040011 (miniature sheet)
Date of issue:
5 March 2013 Total face value: HUF 1,410 12,500 miniatures sheets were
printed. The number of copies of the sets is dependent on demand.
Perforated size: 26
x 33 mm External
imperforated size of the miniature sheet: 124 x 120 mm
Printed by ANY Security Printing Company
Designed by Péter Nagy
